Blood spurted everywhere, soaking the ground and forming a pool quickly. Finally, extending his nails as far as they would go, he severed her head completely. It rolled around sickeningly on the ground before halting in the middle of the pool of blood, face down.
Caleb got off her still-twitching body and when he turned to face me, he looked more menacing than I had ever seen him before. His chest heaved, his mouth dripping with blood, his eyes much darker.
Wow. Go Caleb.
His gaze sent shivers running through me. I was so used to him being gentle with me, I often forgot just how ferocious he could be. He wiped away the blood from his mouth with the back of his hand and then, since he was already shirtless, he tore a piece of fabric from the hem of Julisse’ dress and wiped his hands on it.
He walked toward me, his eyes warming a little as he looked down at me. He examined my skin, which was still red from the curse that Isolde had shot at me.
“Are you okay?” he asked.
“Yeah,” I said. “You?”
He nodded. His skin was also tinged red. Clearly he had survived a curse like I had—more confirmation of Mona’s statement that the black witches had lost their touch.
I didn’t spend much time with Caleb before he left me and raced back into the battle. I needed to finish helping my mother free the rest of the humans. We worked quickly, and luckily no more distractions came before we finished releasing all of them. We herded those who could walk around the side of the castle toward Ashley, then came back to assist those who couldn’t stand. Many were just in shock, while others had genuine injuries.
Once we had finished, we left Ashley with them and cautiously approached the battle again. It was still raging, though, as before, we seemed to have the upper hand. Ibrahim and Corrine hadn’t let up their efforts. I scanned the area for my father. He stood near my grandfather, back to back as they clashed with four warlocks.
My stomach felt queasy as I caught sight of Micah—now in his werewolf form since nightfall had already arrived—biting off the hands of a screaming witch with his huge jaws. I looked around for Mona, wondering where she’d gotten to. I couldn’t see her anywhere. For that matter, I still couldn’t spot Rhys either.
I was about to suggest to my mother that we start helping when a thought struck me. “I wonder if there are more humans in the castle?”
“Let’s check,” my mother replied.
We didn’t want to be distracted by anyone attacking us, so we made our way as discreetly as possible around the edge of the battleground toward the main entrance of the castle. I looked at my mother just before we entered. I wasn’t sure what surprises this house of horrors held for us this time, but I didn’t think it wise for the two of us to go alone.
“I think we should take at least one other person with us,” I said.
“I’ll come.” A gruff voice came from behind us. It was Micah—now finished with the witch he’d been mauling. He had blood smeared on his mouth as he looked up at us, his eyes gleaming.
“Okay,” I said.
A vampire, a werewolf and a fire-wielder. It felt like we’d make a decent team.
We pushed open the entrance doors and stepped inside, closing them behind us. I hoped that nobody had seen us enter. With the doors shut, it was eerily quiet. We stood still, listening and looking around the grand entry hall for any sign of life.
“You hear or smell anything?” I asked Micah and my mother.
They both shook their heads.
“No human blood?”
“No,” Micah said.
“If Micah can’t smell it, I doubt we’ll have much luck,” my mother said. “But we’re here now. Let’s check anyway.”
“We should check the dungeon first,” Micah said.
We headed toward the kitchen and forced open the trap door. As we descended the steps, a sickly stench engulfed us. We cast our eyes around at the empty cells, moving from one room to another. But we spotted no humans, or any other creature for that matter. The dungeons were empty.
“Let’s check upstairs now,” I said.
We exited the dungeons, passed through the kitchen and headed to the wide staircase leading up to the first level. I felt so jittery, I jumped even at the creak of a floorboard beneath our feet.
My mother held my hand, supporting me as we climbed. It was dark and except for the occasional lantern, I was relying on the moonlight trickling through the windows to see where I was going.
Reaching the first level, we hurried along the corridor, checking in each room as we passed by—at least all the rooms whose doors opened. We climbed level after level, meeting nothing but more silence. Finally, we reached the level of the spell room and stopped outside its deep red door. I stared at it, then slowly reached out and hovered my hand over the handle. The three of us pressed our ears against the wood, listening for any sign of life.
There was nothing.
“Now that Lilith is gone,” I whispered, “if we opened this door and stepped inside, I wonder if we would be doomed?”
Micah shrugged. “I don’t know. But it’s not worth the risk. If there was anyone in there, I would sure as hell know it by now.”
And so he retreated from the door. We searched the rest of the floor and then the few levels above, followed by the roof. I pointed to the cage at the far end of the roof. “That was the cage I freed Hermia and her friends from.”
“And it’s a good thing you did,” my mother said.
Micah grunted as we left the roof and made our way back down the stairs. “I would have just left them there.”
Reaching the next level down, we stopped and looked at each other. It was time to concede defeat. There were no humans in this castle. There was so much blood in that lake, it was no wonder that it was empty.
We made our way quickly down to the ground floor again. Ten steps away from the second level, my mother and Micah stopped suddenly. My mother gripped my arm, pulling me back.
“What is it?” I asked.
My question was answered by a deep growl. It came from the bottom of the staircase. Straining to see through the darkness, I could make out a pair of gleaming red eyes and white teeth, shiny with saliva.
Oh, great. Not another one of Shadow’s siblings.
My mother shoved me behind her, extending her claws and preparing to approach it. But Micah brushed her aside with his head.
“Allow me,” he growled, fixing his eyes on the dog.
Although the vampire dog was enormous, Micah was still larger, his jaws wider. The two animals launched at each other and clashed in the air. They attacked each other so ferociously they were a blur before my eyes. But when the vampire dog let out a deafening howl, it was clear that Micah had won. They stopped moving so fast and I could make out that Micah had closed his jaws around the dog’s throat. Blood streamed down the sides of his mouth as he clamped down hard.
The vampire dog fell to the floor and writhed around as Micah lowered his mouth to the beast’s chest. He mauled through its skin before finally closing his teeth around the dog’s heart. He pulled out the giant organ and threw it down on the floor. I looked away, my stomach queasy. Even my mother couldn’t stand the sight.
“Let’s continue, shall we?” Micah called down from below.
Keeping my eyes firmly away from the mess that was left of the dog, we hurried past it toward the werewolf.
“You are gross, Micah,” I muttered.
“Thanks,” he said, licking his lips with his long tongue and grinning darkly.
We finished descending the staircases and reached the entry hall. Approaching the main entrance, my mother pushed open the doors slightly and peered out.
She looked back and nodded. “Let’s go.”
We stepped outside. Looking out at the battleground, I was pleasantly surprised by how few black witches remained. There were many bodies strewn around on the ground—none of our people, to my relief—and those who remained standing were badly injured and clearl
y on their last legs.
Aiden spotted us, having just finished slitting the throat of a witch, and approached.
“We’re almost done here,” he said calmly, looking over the area. “A lot of witches fled. They’re shadows of their former selves.”
I noticed that he had reddish skin like me. So did many of the other vampires that I could see. Although curses were hitting our people, they didn’t seem to be having any serious effects other than causing pain.
My attention was drawn to a billow of flames my father had just shot out. Our vampires, along with Corrine and Ibrahim, seemed to be working together to force the remaining witches into a circle where my father could scorch them all at once. The remaining black witches, obviously realizing what was happening, vanished.
“Is that the last of them?” my mother asked.
“From what we can see,” my father replied.
“What about Rhys?” Micah asked.
Aiden shook his head. “I haven’t seen him.”
Then Magnus—Kiev—called out: “Has anyone seen Mona?”
Chapter 30: Mona
As I raced with Kiev down from the rocks, the only person on my mind was Rhys. Wanting to avoid clashing with any other witch or warlock, I dodged in and out of the battle in search of him. When I had been watching the scene from the air as Kiev stabbed Lilith, the warlock had been near the pool. But I could see from where I was standing that he was not there now.
I suspected that he might have blacked out somewhere. He’d been the most dependent on Lilith for his powers of all of us—more than me, Julisse or even Isolde—so it would be no surprise if he was still unconscious. I wanted to find him before he came to.
Finally, I did. A long form cast in shadow lay close to one side of the castle. He was lying flat on his back, his pale face set in a deep frown.
When I first laid eyes on him, I wondered for a moment whether he was even still living. But it soon became apparent to me that he was. His lips were parted and he breathed gently.
I bent down over him and touched his forehead. It wouldn’t be difficult to finish him off now if I wanted to. I didn’t even need to use magic. I could just reach for the knife tucked into my belt that I’d retrieved from Kiev.
But I couldn’t bring myself to. I’d already experienced the aftermath of self-disgust that came with killing a person in their sleep. I wasn’t about to do it again—not even with Rhys.
Keeping my fingers against his skin, I surged energy into his body and jolted him awake.
His eyelids flickered open and he sat up. He looked shocked as he pushed himself back away from me and shot to his feet.
I took in the deep lines in his face. The dark shadows beneath his eyes. The sallowness of his skin. He looked nothing like the man I had known only months ago.
I couldn’t even bring myself to feel anger toward him. All I felt was sadness, and a sense of loss for the life he could have chosen.
When he motioned to raise his arms, I shook my head.
“Let’s not end things like this, Rhys. The game is over. Just give it up.”
My words only seemed to aggravate him as he took a step closer to me and grabbed my jaw.
I didn’t flinch as he glared down at me, nor even when heat started surging through his hand into my body.
“Please,” I said. “Stop.” I reached a hand up to his face. He flinched at my touch, then tightened his grip around me and pinned me against the castle wall, his hands moving down to my throat.
“I know what you did,” I choked. Even though I knew he could snap my neck with the strength of his muscles alone, I still refused to feel intimidated by him. “Back in The Shade… you saved me from the fire, didn’t you? How else would I have ended up on a boat in the middle of a lake?”
His eyes narrowed. But he refused to answer my question. Instead, he let go of me and blasted me backward with a spell. I found myself falling from the battleground and landing on the rocks beneath. Fortunately, the rocks my back hit were partially submerged in the water and had sea flora growing over them, which helped to soften the impact.
Groaning, I forced myself to sit up.
Okay, then. If this is how you want to play it…
As soon as I caught sight of him appearing on the rocks above me, I cast a spell that knocked him from his feet and brought him crashing down on the ground a short distance from me.
He climbed to his feet, blood flowing from a cut in his lower lip.
“What do you have to gain by continuing to fight us?” I said. “Where do you go from here? Take a look at yourself in a mirror, for God’s sake. You look like a ghost.”
I narrowly dodged another spell from him before shooting one at him myself. With each spell that I let loose, my body felt weaker and weaker. The lack of strength was alarming. I was used to being so powerful I could take on a dozen white witches at once. Now I doubted that I would even be able to take on Corrine alone.
As we continued to blast each other with spells, it became apparent that he too was feeling the strain. His curses were beginning to do less damage each time one hit me. Finally, the spells that hit me barely caused more discomfort than a prickle.
Realizing the futility of attacking me with spells, he reached for his belt and pulled out a ceremonial dagger, the same one I’d seen him holding earlier before the ritual. Even as we circled each other, I couldn’t help but notice how strange it was. Rhys and I, among the most powerful witches of our time, were now fighting with less grace than even vampires.
I could see the shame of it in Rhys’ eyes. The humiliation. I knew the pride he took in his magic—it was the only thing he lived for. He had always chosen it over me, even when he’d claimed to love me. He loved magic even more than he loved himself.
I didn’t stand a chance against him physically. He was taller, stronger and more skilled in combat. The only thing that had made the match even slightly fair before was the fact that I could wield magic.
Still, I wasn’t going to run from him.
This was a battle I had to fight alone.
As he closed in on me, I wondered whether he had it in him to kill me this time. Although he wouldn’t admit to it, I knew he’d saved me from the burning tree. And that day when he and his army had attacked The Shade, he’d avoided killing me then even though it would have been easy. He’d had me tied up in a tree. He could have done anything he wanted to me. But he hadn’t.
Rhys lurched forward. It was almost embarrassing how easily he wrestled the knife out of my hand and pinned me to the ground. My back flat against a rock, I stared up into his black eyes.
His blade pressed against my neck.
My skin broke.
A trickle of blood ran down my neck.
I’ve pushed him too far.
He’s going to do it.
Regret consumed me as he pushed the blade even harder against my flesh. How could I have been so selfish? I have more than just myself to think about. Kiev is half of me.
I should have just run…
I began to struggle harder against him.
He lifted himself off me abruptly.
I thought for a moment that I’d managed to kick him in a painful place, but he was showing no signs of pain as he stood over me. Looking down at me through hooded eyelids, he raised his dagger again. Fearing he was about to hurl it through my chest, I rolled over on my side.
But I didn’t need to.
He brought the dagger down against his right wrist, then his left, slashing through his arteries.
Casting one last, lingering glance down at me, he displayed raw emotions for the first time. Frustration. Longing. Perhaps even regret.
Then our gaze was ripped apart as he leapt across the rocks and dove into the ocean.
Breathless, I scrambled to my feet and hurried to the spot where he had just disappeared. The waves were tinged red with his blood. But he was showing no sign of surfacing.
This part of the ocean was teemin
g with sharks. It would not be long before they claimed him.
Despite myself, tears welled in my eyes and spilled down my cheeks. My vision blurred as I stared at the churning water.
And so it ends.
The life of a man who could have had everything, yet in the end chose nothing.
Goodbye, old friend.
Chapter 31: Rose
“There she is!” I shouted as Mona clambered over the rocks toward us. She looked exhausted, cuts and bruises covering her body.
Kiev was the first to rush over to her. “What happened to you? Are you okay?”
I was surprised to see that her eyes were watery. She swallowed hard. “I’m fine.”
“Have you seen Rhys?”
“Yes,” she said. “We… will not be seeing him again.”
“He’s dead?” I asked, gaping at her.
“Yes. He took his own life.”
We all fell into hushed silence.
“I always knew there was a screw missing with him,” Micah said after several moments.
Mona bit her lip, a pained expression on her face. “There was something missing, that’s for sure.”
“So,” my mother said. “Now what? Ashley is still waiting around the side of the castle with the humans we managed to free. Some of them are in a bad state. They need medical attention.”
We all looked around the battleground, scorched from my father’s flames and strewn with blood and bodies.
What we had just accomplished still hadn’t sunk in. We’d spent so long fighting to end these enemies and thwart their various plans, for it to come to an end… it seemed surreal.
“There is a gate within this castle, as most of you should know,” Mona said. “We can travel through it back to the human realm.”
I exchanged a glance with Caleb. “Uh,” he began, “I’m not sure that will work.”
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